The Future is Clear
by lucesw
Summary: Upon trying to rescue Sasuke, Orochimaru, Naruto and Co. are sent forward in time by Orochimaru. This future is controlled by Orochimaru who is the President of the United Republics of Japan! How will they cope and will they ever return to their own time?


The Future is Clear

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything even Naruto-ish. You all know who does own it, Kishimoto Masashi.

Summary: Upon trying to rescue Sasuke, Orochimaru, Naruto and Co. are sent forward in time by Orochimaru. This future is controlled by Orochimaru who is the President of the United Republics of Japan! How will they cope and will they ever return to their own time?

A/N: This idea hit me as incredibly clever, but I cannot say that because it was more like delusion hit me. So, hopefully this will be a good and funny fic, because I hoped so. I had another Naruto fic in progress, but it's definitely dropped in favor of this one, so…read on and Please RR! A side note is that this is after Naruto comes back from the three year jump in the manga.

"…" Denotes speech

_Italics_ Denotes thought

**_Bold Italics_ **Denotes Kyuubi/Inner Sakura

**Bold** Denotes sound effects

Certain Sounds:

**GOOMPH! **Means fainting anime style.

**DOONG!** Means shock.

:blah: Denotes time/time change

- Denotes scene/scene change

Denotes daydreams and sleeping dreams

Chapter 1: Die Orochimaru, Die!

The trees whooshed past, only a blur on the road to the secret Hideout of Orochimaru. Many secrets had been discovered before this one – but as soon as Jiraiya had even hinted he knew where Orochimaru hid, Naruto had forced it out of him, reluctantly, but he had told him. Sakura, Ino, and Naruto were the first ones to want to try for a rescue, but slowly they had coerced Neji, Chouji, Rock Lee, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Tenten, and even Shikamaru, that lazy bum. Tsunade had not been happy – a Jounin, nine Chuunins, and "even a hyperactive loud-mouthed Genin (Naruto, of course) all going away for a hopeless crusade," Tsunade had put it. Naruto would not budge, though he was stung a bit by the Genin comment ("It's not my fault that Ero-sennin didn't let me go to take the Chuunin exams!" Naruto had retorted.) Tsunade knew what Naruto was thinking, however, since she knew a lot of things about his life after she adopted the informal role of his older sister. She let him go, after making him remember his promise that "he still had to become Hokage."

"How close are we?" Naruto asked Shikamaru. Somehow they had made Shikamaru the leader again, after the experience everyone had with the first time, they knew his IQ was up there somewhere in the stratosphere.

"About half a kilometer," Shikamaru said. "Do we all remember the plan?" The group that was arranged in a trapezoid with again Kiba at the front, though this time with Shino, nodded. Everyone was set. How could they forget? They had practiced multiple times the routine. They had an advantage, though – Orochimaru, to the best of their knowledge still did not know they were coming. Suddenly Shikamaru made a "stop" motion with his hand. The group froze.

"Kiba, do you smell anything?" Shikamaru asked. Kiba muttered something to Akamaru who yipped quietly.

"Akamaru senses four people of high charka levels coming!" Kiba said.

"As expected, they have already noticed our presence. Hopefully they don't actually know how many or informed anyone. People, split up," Shikamaru ordered. The group did.

"Hey, did you see something?" one of those four people said.

"Yeah…" another answered.

"Hey what's that?" the third ninja asked. **BOOOOOMMM!** A smoke bomb blew.

"GATSUUGA!" came the voice of Kiba.

"BYAKUGAN!" Hinata and Neji shouted. **BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!** The attack was short and swift, and soon four dead sound ninjas lay on the ground.

"That worked, but I wonder if anyone heard us," Shikamaru said, examining the bodies.

"I doubt it. It seems that we are too far away for them to notice us," Neji said.

"I-I don't see anyone…" Hinata said.

"That's good," Shikamaru said. "Let's continue on, but we should be quiet. Too much noise and we'll be caught immediately. Remember Orochimaru is a sennin, and we're not here to fight him. We're here to try to get Sasuke back."

"Yes," the team agreed, but Naruto clenched his fist.

"I'm going to kill that idiot for ever leaving when we get back!" he growled. Ino and Sakura sighed. _Is he his friend or enemy?_ They both thought, though the same thing could be said of themselves. The eleven Shinobi of Konoha crept quietly through the bushes. Finally they saw a clearing in which sat a smallish looking house. Nobody was patrolling around.

"Careful," Shikamaru whispered to his group. "There are sure to be traps." Suddenly they saw Kabuto walk out. Naruto instantly clenched his teeth in anger. "Okay, are you guys ready?"

"Yes," the ten others responded. They were going to take this guy out.

"Chouji, go!" Shikamaru hissed.

"Multi-Size no jutsu! MEAT TANK!" Chouji shouted. Instantly, he became huge and rolled towards Kabuto.

"Eh?" Kabuto said, "Who's this?" Kabuto easily dodged it and prepared to strike Chouji with his medical ninjutsu techniques. "TAKE THIS!"

"Kagemane no jutsu," Shikamaru said. His shadow flew towards Kabuto and froze him.

"What?" Kabuto exclaimed.

"64 hands of Hakke, gentle fist style," Neji began.

"Two hands! Four hands! Eight Hands! Sixteen hands! Thirty-two hands! SIXTY-FOUR HANDS!" Neji shouted, hitting Kabuto multiple times.

"Uhh!" Kabuto groaned, and he fell to the ground. Chouji returned to normal as Shikamaru stood up shakily.

"Neji, wait a little bit more before doing that, you almost killed me," Shikamaru said.

"Sorry, Shikamaru," Neji said. **POOF!**

"Eh?" Chouji said. The Kabuto on the ground disappeared.

"Dodge!" Neji shouted, and they all jumped away as three kunai flew towards them.

"Behind us!" Neji exclaimed, and they spun around to see five more shruiken flying towards them. **THWAK! **Chouji was hit.

"Chouji!" Shikmaru exclaimed. **POOF!** A log appeared. _Phew!_ Shikamaru thought. Neji and Shikamaru stood there in front of Kabuto.

"I doubt you can hit me seriously," Kabuto said, pushing up his glasses. "So you brats finally decided to come and get Sasuke-kun back, eh?" **BAAAAMM!** The ground suddenly blew up, like a giant earthquake. "What!" Kabuto said, tripping and falling.

"GATSUUGA!" Kiba and Akamaru again came spinning towards Kabuto who managed to dodge it despite the shaky earth.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Kabuto shouted. "What!" he exclaimed, and he jumped up from the ground as bugs suddenly flew up.

"RASENGAN!" Two Narutos from the air came down, one with a rasengan in his hand.

"Shoot, I can't dodge!" Kabuto said.

"DIE!" Naruto shouted as the closed together, but at the last second Kabuto grabbed Naruto's hand and shoved him to the side. He handed on the ground safely.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Neji shouted. "Hakke, Kage Bunshin style! 128 divine hands!"

"What!" Kabuto screamed. _Where did this brat come from?_ **BAM! BAM!** **BAM! BAM!**

"Four Hands! Eight Hands! Sixteen hands! Thirty Two hands! Sixty Four hands! ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY EIGHT HANDS!" Neji bellowed, hitting Kabuto all 128 times.

"Ah…" Kabuto said, falling to the ground. But the Kabuto on the ground oozed into mud.

"Another clone!" Neji said. **THWACK!** "Uh!" Neji grunted as a dagger pierced his body.

"I know all about the Hyuuga Byakugan," Kabuto's voice came. "Die!" **WOOSH!**

"What!" Kabuto grunted, and he dodged back just in time to miss being hit by five shruiken.

"Shruiken Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Tenten shouted, and suddenly a massive hive of shruiken came flying towards Kabuto. _There's so many of them!_ Kabuto thought. _But still, too easy._ Kabuto jumped upwards but suddenly the shruiken followed.

"Controlled!" Kabuto shouted. Every single shruiken sliced through Kabuto.

"Boom," Tenten smiled. **BOOOOOOM!** The shruiken all exploded and Kabuto's ragged body flew towards the ground.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto shouted, and this time he hit Kabuto full on. **BWHIRLLY! ZZZZ! **(A/N: What sound does Rasengan make, anyways?)

"AHHHH!" Kabuto shouted, and he flew towards the wall of the house and hit it, dead.

"Is he dead this time?" Ino asked coming out.

"Sakura, check on him!" Shikamaru ordered. Sakura was cautious on approach, but Kabuto it seemed this time was surely dead.

"He's gone," Sakura said. The eleven shinobi congregated in front.

"Good job, everyone," Shikamaru said. "Sakura, can you check on Neji's wound?"

"I'm fine," Neji said, holding the dagger that had been in his back.

"Good, let's go get that Sasuke idiot back!" Naruto said.

"Wait, remember the plan," Shikamaru told Naruto. Naruto stopped.

"It's only because they work that I listen to them," Naruto said condescendingly.

"We go in groups of three, with one group of two staying out here. That will be you, Ino, and Sakura," Shikamaru explained.

"Yes," they agreed.

"If anyone comes out hurt, your job is to immediately try to keep them alive. We don't know what's in there," Shikamaru said. Sakura nodded.

"Okay, we'll form into the prescribed groups now, and—" Shikamaru stopped, because suddenly he heard evil laughing.

"Ku ku ku ku ku…" They turned and saw none other than Sasuke coming out. His head was faced towards the ground.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino shouted.

"Sasuke?" Sasuke asked, not looking at any of them.. "Heh, you idiots have no idea what I've learned here."

"Learned?" Sakura asked, scared. This wasn't the Sasuke that she remembered.

"Sasuke! YOU #! COME BACK HERE NOW!" Naruto bellowed. "LEAVE THAT # OROCHIMARU!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted. "You all deserve to die!" Suddenly he looked up and everyone was hit with shock. His eye looked like a snake's.

"No…" Sakura said, breaking down and starting to cry.

"You…" Naruto started, but couldn't say anything. _This is really bad,_ Shikamaru thought.

"THAT'S RIGHT! I'VE GAINED THE POWER OF THE SHARIGAN! AH, HAHAHAHA!" Sasuke bellowed.

"Y-YOU OROCHIMARU!" Naruto shouted. "DIE! RASENGAN!"

"Heh, like a wimpy technique like that could get me," Sasuke, or rather, Orochimaru said. "Ninpou: Time Warp." Suddenly a big blue ring that looked like a portal appeared in front of Naruto.

"AH!" Naruto cried, and when he hit it he simply disappeared.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted.

"What did you do with Naruto-kun!" Lee shouted.

"You'll find out!" Orochimaru shouted, and he moved his hand and the big portal flew towards them.

"Jump!" Ino shouted.

"Useless!" Orochimaru shouted. "Expand!" And suddenly the huge portal expanded and all ten Shinobi where eaten up by the portal. "Heh, that was too easy." Orochimaru smiled, but then he noticed Kabuto.

"Worthless boy," he said. "Now I have to find someone else so Kabuto can be replaced…"

Dark. Too dark. Where was he? Where was this?

_**Boy, You'd better not have killed us!**_

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID FOX!" Naruto yelled. He was not in the "cage room," but the Kyuubi still annoyed him, talking to him in his brain. It was still dark. _Why? What happened?_ All Naruto knew is one moment he was rushing at Orochimaru, and then he had fallen through here. _Orochimaru, that ! I can't believe it…Sasuke, why are you such an IDIOT!_ However, this did not solve anything, and Naruto continued to see darkness. He could feel himself, but not anything else. He felt the ground, but it was like a dark hallway. _But this is not inside myself, where the Kyuubi is._ Naruto knew this for a fact.

**THUMP!**

"What was that?" Naruto asked.

"Get off me!"

"Who are you!"

"Where are we?"

"Get your foot off my eye!"

"Ugh, why does it stink?"

"And why is it pitch black?"

"Guys?" Naruto asked cautiously.

"N-Naruto-kun!"

"Hinata?"

"Naruto?"

"Someone get a light!" **PHISSSH! **Someone struck a match, and suddenly there was light. The eleven Shinobi were standing in a tunnel. It was clearly a maintenance hallway – there were pipes and wires along the walls that dripped, causing pools of water to form beneath them.

"Where are we?" Chouji asked.

"I don't know…" Naruto said.

"The first thing we should do is get some light on!" Shikamaru said. "People, look for a light switch." Everyone did, but suddenly the match went out.

"Oops, that was my last one," Kiba said.

"Don't worry, Hinata-sama and I will use Byakugan to see," Neji said.

"Byakugan lets you see in the dark?" Naruto asked.

"To a limited amount. We can see the shadows of no Chakra, or the glow of Chakra, so if you people stand in front of the wall, we can see a bit," Neji explained.

"Ah," Naruto answered. They did while Hinata and Neji searched around.

"I found s-something!" Hinata cried. She pulled it.

"AHHH! MY EYES!" Kiba cried, clutching his eyes. Akamaru barked for his master. Everyone else thought the same thing while blinking furiously and wiping the tears from their eyes. They finally got accustomed to the light.

"Now let's find a way out of here," Shikamaru.

"Will we ever get back? Where is here?" Sakura asked.

"Don't worry, Sakura-san! The springtime of Youth will always find a way!" Rock Lee said,

"Let's just go," Neji said.

"Err…" Naruto asked. "Right or left?"

"Kiba?" Shikamaru prompted.

"Why are you asking me?" Kiba retorted.

"Because it seems we are underground, and therefore if you smell fresh air, you can lead us out. Got it?" Shikamaru asked.

"This is why he's the leader," Ino whispered to Tenten. Kiba sniffed the air along with Akamaru.

"Yup," Kiba said, agreeing with Akamaru who was barking. "Fresh air is to the right. That way," Kiba said, pointing.

"Good," Shikamaru said. "Everyone, be on your guard. We don't know where we landed. For all we know, he put us in a dungeon with ten traps each step." They walked carefully, but did not meet any traps as Shikamaru had warned.

"Look!" Ino said, pointing to a glimmer of the outside.

"We've finally come to the end of the tunnel," Tenten said, sighing in relief.

"Neji, you'll go first," Shikamaru ordered.

"Yes." Neji crept forward while the group stood still. They saw him look out, and then motion to the group. "It's safe." They all walked to the exit. "In fact, I don't even think we're in Konoha anymore."

"What?" Rock Lee asked in horror. "You mean…"

"Yes. He must have transported us to a whole different place!" Neji said.

"Place?" Shino said. "Perhaps you mean time." He pointed to the sky, where one could see a multitude of cars **in the air**. Not to mention the tall buildings scraping the huge gray sky.

"W-what are those?" Kiba asked.

"I have no idea," Shino answered.

"Hmm…I seem to remember Orochimaru saying Time Warp…" Shikamaru said, musing.

"Any idea what year it is?" Tenten asked.

"Nope, but it must be quite a few years ahead of where we were to already have a highway system of those things," Shikamaru said. Suddenly two big burly men came into view.

"Hey, what do we have here? You folks are trespassing! Pay up, or suffer the consequences!" one said.

"Excuse me?" Chouji asked.

"You heard the man. Pay up!" the second guy said. He took out a oddly-shaped object. It was gun, though none of the Shinobi knew what it was. "Or else I shoot you."

"With that?" Kiba asked.

"What, are you stupid! Of course with this!" The second man shouted, waving the gun. He pointed it at Neji. "Perhaps I'll have to shoot one of you, heh heh."

"Too late," Shikamaru said. "Kagemane no Jutsu."

"What…I can't move!" the guy with the gun cried. "Who the heck are you people!"

"Ninjas, idiot," Kiba said, and he took the gun from the guys hand.

"Hey, give that back!" the second guy cried. **BAM!** Suddenly the first guy punched Shikamaru in the face. The kagemane no jutsu was released.

"We don't need guns to beat you," the first man said, cracking his knuckles menacingly.

"My words exactly," Rock Lee said, appearing from behind and kicking the man in the legs, forcing him to his knees.

"Ow!" he cried when Sakura punched him in the face.

"I'm outta here!" the second guy cried, running away.

"You were saying?" Naruto taunted, appearing in front of him suddenly.

"Wah!"

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Several clones of Naruto appeared all around him.

"Who are you people!" the second man cried as he was beaten up. Soon, the eleven ninjas had both muggers tied up and they lay them against the tunnel wall.

"Now we have some questions for you," Shikamaru began.

"Anything! Just let us go!" both muggers whimpered.

"Where are we?"

"In the maintenance tunnel of Tokyo! In Japan!"

"Tokyo?" Sakura muttered.

"What is the date?" Shikamaru continued.

"It's December the twentieth!" the mugger answered.

"No, what year?"

"Year? You don't know that?"

"Answer the question," Kiba said, pointing the gun at them, though he had no idea what it was or how to use it.

"Ahh! Don't shoot! Okay, it's 2150!" the mugger answered.

"2150!" Ino shouted in horror.

"What are the current events?" Shikamaru asked.

"Current events? How should I know? I don't subscribe to the Holo-net!" the mugger said. "If I was rich enough to, do you think I'd be trying to get money from people like this?"

"Hey, who's the one asking the questions?" Naruto growled from the other side of the tunnel, where he was leaning with his arms crossed.

"Sorry!"

"Do you at least know the ruler of Japan?" Shikamaru asked.

"Last I heard, Orochimaru-sama was still in power," the second guy said. He looked at all eleven shinobi's reaction. "What, you didn't know that?"

"Orochimaru…" Naruto growled, his face downcast.

"Thank you, please leave and don't try this again," Shikamaru said, kicking them out of the tunnel. They ran away.

"What should we do now?" Shino asked, breaking the silence.

"Well, I think the first thing we should do is settle in," Shikamaru started, but Naruto interrupted him.

"We should go get that Orochimaru # and make him send us back, before slitting his throat," Naruto growled.

"That's right!" Ino and Sakura agreed.

"That doesn't make any sense," Shino said.

"Naruto, I know how you feel, and you too, Sakura and Ino, but right now is not the time to be making foolish attempts. Imagine what kind of weaponry they have in this age, that thing being a prime example," Shikamaru said. "Plus we can't even fight him yet. By now he must have learned every single Jutsu and created several hundred of his own."

"But, we have to…" Ino started, but she knew it would go nowhere.

"How much money do we have on us?" Shikamaru asked. Everyone turned out their pockets, and they had a grand total of a thousand yen.

"A thousand yen won't even last us dinner!" Chouji moaned.

"Shoot, this is worse than I thought," Shikamaru griped.

"Perhaps we could sell the coins," Neji suggested.

"Ye-yeah, that's a good idea," Hinata agreed.

"You're right. These coins must be antiques by now. If we can find a coin dealer, then our money could increase a hundredfold," Shikamaru suggested.

"Okay, let's move out," Shikamaru said. The troupe moved out, and were amazed. The outside was all pavement, there was absolutely no grass or dirt anywhere.

"Heh, Gaara would be easily defeated here," Naruto commented.

"Except that he brings sand with him, idiot," Kiba said.

"Idiot? Who's the one who sleeps with a dog!" Naruto commented. Akamaru barked back angrily.

"That's right, Akamaru! At least I'm a Chuunin," Kiba responded. Naruto growled. They locked eyes, and lightning was traded between them.

"Hey, you two, break it up!" Sakura shouted.

"Yeah, we need all the team work we can get," Tenten said.

"N-Naruto-kun, it's not good to fight…" Hinata told him. Naruto turned away, huffily, and put his nose in the air. Kiba did likewise. Soon, though, the argument was forgotten as they explored the city. The buildings were all at least twenty stories high, complete with sliding doors that greeted people as they walked through them. The normal citizens, though, of course stared at them because of their clothing, but the group carried on.

"Mommy, are they doing a play?" a child asked, pointing.

"Now now, dear, it's not nice to point," the mother said, leading her child away from the group. Shikamaru had a hard time keeping the group together; at one point, Ino, Sakura, and Tenten had saw a pretty dress and almost rushed into a shop while Shino and Akamaru had wandered into a pet store.

"Guys, we're here to find a coin trader so we can get more money!" Shikamaru ordered, almost losing his anger.

"That's right, we should listen to Shikamaru. We didn't make him leader for nothing," Rock Lee said. Suddenly he turned as something caught his eye. "What! A gym equipment store!" He jumped to dive in as Neji grabbed the collar of his green spandex suit.

"Didn't you just say something?" Neji asked. Rock Lee stopped and came back, though not before looking wistfully at the store.

"We should, um, a-ask someone if they know where one is…" Hinata suggested.

"That's right, we should listen to Hinata," Naruto said. "She knows what is happening." Hinata blushed slightly. "I'll ask someone."

"No, wait, Naruto…" Sakura began.

"Excuse me?" he said, tapping on a stranger's shoulder.

"What? Who are you? Get away from me you freak!" the stranger cried, and he ran away. Naruto's face dropped. _Freak? I should beat him for that,_ Naruto thought, but luckily he had enough self-constraint to not give in to his desire.

"Naruto, you don't know how to ask someone something, let me do it," Kiba said. He walked over to a lady and coughed.

"Excuse me, Ma'am?" he asked.

"Ahhh!" she screamed, and she hit him with her bag. "Perverted stalker!" she shouted while running away.

"Pervert? Where!" the crowd shouted, and the jumped on Kiba. When he finally came back, battered and bruised, Naruto was laughing his butt off.

"I'll do it," Shino said.

"A dark guy like him do it? Yeah, right," Naruto said.

"I agree," Kiba told Naruto.

"Excuse me, do you know of an antique dealer anywhere around here?" Shino asked a man.

"Oh yes, if you walk several blocks thataway," he said, pointing down the street, "Then you'll see a sign with a star on it. That shop is an antique dealership."

"Thank you," Shino said.

"No problem," the man answered, and he walked along his merry way. Naruto and Kiba were in shock.

"H-how…?" they asked. Everyone ignored them.

"Let's go," Shikamaru commanded. They went. Down the street, they walked for several blocks, and then they saw a electronic sign that flashed psychedelic colors with a star on it…no, it was a shruiken! They went in."

"Greetings, welcome to Asuma and Kurenai's antique shop!" a voice said. The group stopped cold.

"Did you—?" Ino asked.

"Yeah," Shikamaru said.

"Probably just a coincidence," Kiba said. They walked towards the counter.

"Welcome to A and K's! Have an antique you're interested in? Judging from your old fashioned clothes, I have many ninja shruikens in stock and even a couple of rare swords! I also have replications of some Chinese blades, if you like," the clerk said. He was dressed in the typical clothing of that era, which meant blue jeans and a t-shirt that read "Ninjas make my day – and take yours." "Are you guys performing a play?"

"No, I was wondering how much the coins are worth," Shikamaru said, and he took out the 1000 yen in coins that the group had.

"Woah, baby! These are like hundreds of years old, and yet they're in such good condition!" the clerk said. "You must collect antiques as a hobby, eh?"

"Uh, something like that," Shikamaru said. The group of Shinobi were wandering through the store, picking stuff up. It was actually new to them, and Kiba picked up a type writer, looking at it curiously.

"These are worth a thousand yen-dollars each," the clerk said, after looking through a book and examining the coins. "I didn't know coins of this quality still existed. Let's see…you have about twenty of them. Let me go ask my boss to see if he wants to buy them, though I'm sure he will. These date back to the ninja era, and he's a big fan of that era…" the clerk left the counter and went into the back.

"This is so troublesome. I don't know how you guys got me to do this," Shikamaru said to Ino.

"Hey, don't you care about Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked.

"Not particularly."

"How can you not?" Ino, said pouting.

"Because he's a bum and Orochimaru." Ino fell silent. _I'll get my dear Sasuke-kun back, you'll see!_

"Ah, are you the customer that had coins from the ninja era?" Shikamaru turned around and had a double take. The boss looked exactly like Asuma, up to the point that he even had a cigarette in his mouth!

"Woah," Ino said.

"What?" the man who looked like Asuma asked.

"Sorry, you just remind us of someone we know," Shikamaru told him.

"Oh, okay. Anyways, I would really like to purchase your coins, but currently I don't have the means to buy them for what they're worth. I plan to take a loan out, but currently I could pay you for half of them," the boss informed him.

"We'll take it and sell you the other half later then," Shikamaru said.

"Promise? I really like those coins," the boss said.

"Don't worry, we won't sell them to anyone else," Shikamaru said.

"All right, who should I make the check out to?" the boss asked.

"Check? You don't have, ah, cash?" Shikamaru asked, worried.

"No, the URJ doesn't allow it," the boss said. "Plus it's less safe. So, who shall it be?"

"I, ah, don't have a bank account," Shikamaru said.

"You don't?" the boss asked, his face falling.

"No…"

"Well, I'll tell you what. I'll give you the money in cash so you can go across the street and start an account, because a bank account is very useful. Everybody uses one nowadays, especially since you can just use a debit card for instantaneous money transfer," the boss said. He took out a ten a hundred yen-dollar bills. "Here," he said, giving Shikamaru the money. The boss eagerly swept the coins into his palm and began to walk away.

"Ah, can I ask you a question?" Shikamaru queried before the man left.

"Yes?" the boss answered.

"Where does the title of your store come from?" The boss stopped, surprised.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah."

"Well, my parents are a directly in the line of the great ninjas Asuma and Kurenai, from the ninja era. They were from the ancient village of Konoha, and were one of the few survivors of the Reign of Terror, where all the Ninja were wiped out and a leader known only as The Supreme One led. Since I am from that line, and this shop is all about antiques from that era, I thought I'd name it that," the boss answered. "By the way, I'm Natsuki."

"I'm Shikamaru, and this is Ino," Shikamaru greeted. "Wait, so how exactly are you related to them? Asuma and Kurenai got married?"

"Yeah, after some initial hardships apparently. I really don't know much, except that my mother's a direct descendent.," Natsuki said.

"Ah, well I'll be back. Let's go, people," Shikamaru said. All the shinobi started to leave.

"Come back soon! If you couldn't find anything, visit us on the Net at a voice called out as they walked out the sliding door.

"Neat place," Naruto said.

"Clean, too," Sakura said.

"It smelled like soap," Kiba commented. Shikamaru and Ino, however, were too busy laughing to notice any of these comments.

"What is the matter?" Shino asked.

"Oh, I just can't wait to get back," Ino cried, wiping away the tears. "Maybe coming here wasn't so bad after all."

"?" Shino asked, but his question went unanswered.

"It doesn't matter," Shikamaru said, suddenly becoming serious again and standing up straight.

"Everyone, come here," Shikamaru said. They all filed closer, in a circle.

"What is it, Shikamaru? Have you got a plan?"

"Yeah, I do."

"What is it?" Neji asked.

"I bet it's some super duper plan that will make all our youth power shine!" Rock Lee cried.

"Actually not, but what we need to do now is check into a hotel. Then after some rest that we all need, I'm sure that we can think of something to do," Shikamaru said. "I'm all out of moves."

"Why does that make my skin crawl?" Naruto asked out loud. They all ignored him.

A hotel was easily found. In fact, there was one only a couple blocks away from the antique shop.

"Hello, how may I help you? Two rooms? Six rooms?" a clerk asked as Shikamaru approached the counter with the eleven shinobi following. They all were amazed at the beauty, cleanliness, and especially the huge a hundred light chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Then they saw something else – huge comfy chairs.

"I got one!" Naruto yelled.

"Yeah, right!" Kiba shot back. The group walked over to the general area. Ino followed Shikamaru.

"One room is how much?" Shikamaru asked.

"A hundred a night," the clerk responded.

"We'll take two rooms," Shikamaru said.

"I assume you want the biggest possible rooms?"

"Yes, please," Shikamaru said.

"Okay, and what account should I charge this to?" the clerk asked.

"I'll pay by cash," Shikamaru said.

"Cash? I'm sorry, but cash payers are only allowed to rent one room," the clerk informed Shikamaru.

"What? Err…what if they paid separately?" Shikamaru asked.

"That would work, but now I know so it won't," the clerk responded.

"Darn it, I'm to tired to think ahead," Shikamaru muttered.

"Don't worry, I'll get you a big room. It's at the top floor, room 2001," the clerk said, and handed Shikamaru a card. "This room has plenty of space, you'll see. That'll be 200 yen-dollars, because it's a special room." Shikamaru grumbled as he counted out the money and handed it to him.

"Will you need a bellhop?" the clerk asked.

"A what?"

"A bellhop, you know, to carry your bags?"

"No."

"Well, the elevators are over there, to the right," the clerk said pointing. "Next, please." Shikamaru left and walked back to the group who were fighting over sitting in the comfy padded chairs.

"Can you guys get any more immature!" Sakura was shouting as Kiba and Naruto went at it with most of the other customers frightened away.

"Wha?" Naruto said. **PUNCH!** "Wah!" Naruto cried, as Kiba punched him. He flew backwards and skidded on the floor.

"I win!" Kiba said, and he sat down on the comfy chair. "Eh!" Someone was already in it while they had been fighting. "Hey, Neji, get out of my chair!"

"Want to make me?" Neji said.

"Heck yeah!" Kiba responded. Shikamaru interrupted.

"This is nice and all," he started sarcastically, "but we got ourselves a room."

"Yeah, and you guys had better like it, because it's expensive!" Ino shouted. Sakura quickly left the company along with Shino and Rock Lee. Neji glared at Kiba as he walked past him and followed the rest of the group.

"Hmmph, just when I won the chair too," Kiba muttered. "Where's Hinata?" Hinata had, of course, run over to Naruto when he had been punched by Kiba.

"N-naruto-kun, we, ah, have to go now," Hinata stuttered. She blushed because she was simply talking to Naruto, as she did all the time.

"Huh? Fine, lead the way, Hinata," Naruto said, rubbing his face. "I'll get that dog-lover back!" Hinata said nothing as Naruto planned revenge on her former teammate.

"Oh yeah, err, Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"Y-yes?" Hinata answered.

"You're a chuunin now, right?" Naruto inquired.

"Y-yes…but I was only lucky when I passed the exam…" Hinata said, not wanting to hurt Naruto's feelings.

"Haha, don't kid yourself, Hinata! I bet you whipped everyone and impressed all the judges!" Naruto suddenly interjected loudly. Hinata didn't responded immediately, because it was actually partly true. She had surprised many people as she was suddenly a better ninja by almost tenfold. Her skills had been upgraded – and it was all due to Naruto, though she didn't tell anyone else.

"I-I'm sure you can pass, Naruto-kun. You're a much skilled ninja than I am," Hinata said.

"Ha! Of course I will!" Naruto proclaimed. Hinata looked around nervously.

"Th-the truth is, Naruto-kun, that, err, I was thinking about you when I was fighting, and your, (gulp) determination in-inspired me to win," Hinata said, crossing her fingers behind her back. Naruto stood still, just before entering the lobby where the elevators were. He was slightly shocked. But he had a quick recovery.

"Of course! Uzumaki Naruto is an inspiration to everyone! Let's go, Hinata!" he cried, and pulled her along to the elevator lobby.

"Finally here, your so slow. Perhaps the hit I gave you made you weak?" Kiba taunted.

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata cried. "Stop it!"

"She's right, idiot," Neji said. They waited.

"What are we doing?" Chouji asked Shikamaru.

"I'm trying to figure out how this works," Shikamaru said, trying to open the doors that were closed.

"Perhaps you have to press this?" Naruto asked, and he almost pressed the fire alarm button on the elevator panel.

"Wait!" Shikamaru cried out. "We don't know what that will do!" Too late. **BRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGG!** An alarm started and everyone started screaming.

"LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" Shikamaru bellowed.

"IT'S BETTER THAN DOING NOTHING!" Naruto shot back.

"HOW IS THIS BETTER!" Kiba yelled. They were yelling, of course, to get above the screaming and bells ringing.

"Everyone, please evacuate to the front of the building, please evacuate…" A voice droned. "Do not take your personal belongings, please head to the nearest exit. I repeat, please evacuate."

"IDIOT!"

"LAZY BUM!"

"STUPID MALES, STOP FIGHTING!" Sakura raged, hitting Naruto. **Ding!**

"See, something like that could happen," Shikamaru said.

"Huh, I would never act like that," Naruto said huffily. A elevator opened and they all filed in, somewhat squished.

"Hey, get your foot off mine!" Kiba said.

"Well, don't put your hand in my face!" Naruto shot back.

"Alright, who touched me?" Sakura asked.

"Everyone, calm down," Shikamaru said. "OW! Who kneed me in the gut?"

"Where are we going?" Shino asked.

"Top…floor…" Shikamaru grunted.

"I got it," Tenten said, and she pressed the top floor button.

"What will happen now?" Naruto asked. The elevator groaned, and slowly started to move up.

'Woah, someone touched my butt!" Ino shrieked.

"Wasn't me!" Naruto said.

"Hey, stop pushing!" Tenten grunted. "Woah!" she fell on to the console and pressed another floor button by accident. They stopped.

"What happened?"

"Nothing," Tenten said. "I pressed another floor button by accident." The doors opened.

"Eh?" Some hotel patrons said, who were waiting for an elevator. "Err, we'll take the next one."

"Get off my chest!" Sakura cried, slapping someone's hand away.

"Sorry, Sakura," Neji said.

"Are we there yet?" Rock Lee groaned. "The burning flame of youth is dying."

"Shut up!" Ino shouted. "Stop it, Kiba!"

"Oops, sorry, Hinata!" Naruto cried out, stepping on her foot.

"I-it's okay…" Hinata answered meekly. **Ding!**

"It's our floor," Tenten informed the rest. The doors opened and everyone spilled out.

"Next time," Shikamaru breathed, "We take two elevators."

"Wah! I've never been so violated in my life!" Ino shouted.

"Who was the one constantly stomping on my foot?" Kiba asked. Shikamaru made a silent sound.

"We're going to find room 2001," he said.

"It's right there," Shino said pointing.

"Well, good, let's see…perhaps if I wave it in front of this black thing…" Shikamaru said, more to himself. He waved it.

"Welcome to the Marriot International Suites in the Heart of the United Republics of Japan," a voice chimed as the door slid open. **DOOOONNNGGG!** Everyone's mouth fell open.

"Thi-this is a hotel?" Naruto asked. "It's more like a mansion!" Indeed it was, as there was first as you entered a large eating area with a glass table and several chairs. A kitchen area sat in front of it with a mini-TV imbedded into the wall. To the left, there was a huge room with four large beds, where a huge plasma screen TV was hanging on the wall as well. Further along the left of the dining room was another separate room where the bathroom lay, connected to the bedroom and dining area. Where they were standing in right now contained a couch and a massage chair, and **another** TV. To top it all off, there was a fruit basket on the glass table.

"Oh my gosh!" Ino squealed, running and jumping to a bed while others fiddled with various things.

"What's this?" Rock Lee asked, sitting in the massage chair.

"Hello, how would you like a massage?" the chair asked.

"Ah! It talks!" Rock Lee exclaimed, jumping out of the chair. Naruto felt the bed. It gave way a bit as he pressed.

"Awesome!" Naruto shouted, starting to jump on the bed. "This place is FREAKIN AWESOME!"

A/N: Okay, this chapter started out slightly slow, and I do have a few things to say against possible arguments. First you may have thought they killed Kabuto too easily. Well I say that eleven Shinobi all pretty good attacking Kabuto is enough to kill him. I mean, how many can he take? I know he's super strong (though I hate him) and Orochimaru's top henchman, but come on. Even Naruto couldn't last that long. Second I want to tell any body that if they thought they got over Sasuke being taken too quickly, I agree, but that isn't the main focus of this story. But to be fair, I'll probably have a chapter about how they feel about that later. And third, I want to apologize if I forgot characters at some point, which I did forget Rock Lee during the Fight with Kabuto, because Eleven people is a lot to remember. But I hope you enjoyed it and are itching to read the next chapter. Please review, because it always helps. RR, please, if good or bad!


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